Shoe-fastener



(No Model.-)

A.S.QFRENGH.'

SHOE FASTE NER.

No. 423,601. Paten'tedMar. 18, 1890.

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' U ITED STAT S PATENT. OFFICE.

ALVAH S. FRENCH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE FRENCH FASTENER COMPANY, OF NEW JERSEY.

SHOE-FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 423,601, dated March 18, .1890.

Application filed March 8, 1889. Serial No. 302,459. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALVAH S. FRENCH, a

citizen of the United States, residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates, generally, to fastening devices for articles of apparel-such as shoes, boots, leggins, gloves, corsets, and the like; but it is more particularly intended, in its present embodiment, as a fastening device for shoes; and it consists in the peculiarities of construction and arrangement or combination of parts hereinafter .fully disclosed in the description, drawings, and claims.

The objects of my invention are, first, to

provide improved fastening devices for drawing, holding together, and releasing the flaps adjacent to the instep-openings in shoes or,

theedges alongside of openings or spaces in other articles of apparel; second, to provide the band or strap of my fastening device with improved interior closely-set clasps or clamps,

each of which is formed with enlarged recesses or grooves in its interior and with openlngs in its side and bottom leading into T said grooves, said openings being smaller than said recesses or grooves, and thus preventing the withdrawal of, the strips or ribs by strain upon the flaps; third, to provide clasps or clamps of the construction just described with a band or strap, which may be formed in oneor more pieces, which covers the exteriors of said clasps or clamps, lines their interiors, and is held in place by being bent with said clamps; fourth, to provide said band or strap and clamps with two continuous recesses or grooves for the reception and retention of the strips or ribs upon the flaps of shoes .or the edges of other articles of apparel; fifth, to provide removable and replaceable devices for the adjustment of one or more of said strips or ribs into different positions, and, sixth, to provide the other improvements hereinafter described and; claimed. These objects I accomplish by the fastening clasps or clamps.

, devices illustrated inthe accompanying draw; :ings, forming part of this specification, in which the same letters of reference indicate the same or corresponding 5which in Fastening Devices for Shoes, &c.; and I do parts, and in Figure 1 represents a perspective view of -my invention as applied to a shoe; Fig. 2, an

enlarged broken detail view of my invention, showing the adjustable strip or rib on the instep-opening; Fig. 3, a transverse section of the same, the section being taken on the dotted lines y y of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4', adetail transverse section of the band or strap, showing. the same covering and lining one of the clasps or clamps; and Fig. 5, a correspond- I ing view showing a slightly-modified form of the olasps or clamps, or as bent at their edges to securely fasten them to the band or strap.

I11 the drawings, A indicates the upper of a shoe; B, the instep-opening; O O, the strips or ribs; D, the band or strap, and E the One of the edges of the shoe-flaps is provided with a strip or rib O, which is enlarged beyond the thickness of the shoe-upper and its lining, either by turning v and hemming or binding the edge or by fasteni'ng a strip of leather or other suitable material either upon the upper or under surface of said flap by means of the adjustable devices hereinafter described. A portion of p the other flap of the shoe projects beneath this flap and its enlarged rib or edge and takes the place of the ordinary shoe-tongue. A rib or strip of leather or other suitable material is fastened upon the upper surface of this flap at any suitable or desired distance from its edge, and thus forms the other strip or rib O". This rib is so attached as to be readily removable and replaceable, and thus adjustable to suit different-sized insteps and to take up any wrinkling and stretching about the ankle. For this purpose I preferably employ small staples and clinch them below the upper leather of the shoe; but I may use small removable and replaceable eyelets. The staples L .areshown in perspective. view in Fig. 2 and in section in Fig. 3. V The enlarged edge or rib C and the strip or rib C upon'the flaps both operate as guides for the flexible and slidableband or strap I), which is made of leather' or other suitable flexible material and placed to cover the exwhich serve as supports or stilfeners for said band or strap. I preferably make this band or strap of a single piece of flexible material; but it may be formediof-more pieces, one for covering the outer surfaces of the clasps or .clamps and one or more for lining their interior surfaces. These clasps or clampsare rectangularly shaped in contour and of substantially T form in transverse section,there being at the sides of ,the vertical or central part of each T enlarged recesses or grooves G and G, having openings J, which are large enough to admit the part of the flap adjacent to the enlarged edge or rib G and the neck of the strip or rib O on the opposite flap, but too small relatively to the thickness of said rib and enlarged edge to permit their withdrawal in the direction of the tension or strain upon the flaps of the shoe.

vThe construction of the band or strap and the clamps shown in Fig. 5 is such that the metal of the latter is bent to form them into the shape shown, and at the same time to securely fastenthem to the former without the employment of additional holding means.

It will be obvious from the foregoing that my improved fastening devices for shoes and other articles of apparel are simple, inexpensive to manufacture, strong or durable, not liable to get out of order, and permit of said shoes or other articles to be quickly fastened and unfastened; that my band or strap is provided wit-11 interior closely-set clasps or clamps, each of which is formed with enlarged recesses or grooves in itsinterior and with openings in its side and bottom leading into said grooves, said openings being smaller than said recesses or grooves, and thus preventing the withdrawalpf the strips or ribs by strain upon the flaps; that the metallic clasps or clamps are covered exteriorly and lined interiorly by the band or strap, which may be held in place by being bent with said clamps without any other fastening means whatever, and that by means of this construction and arrangement of said band or strap and clamps they will form two continuous guide recesses or grooves for the reception and retention of the strips or ribs upon the shoe-flaps.

Having thus fully described the construction and arrangement or combination of the.

several parts and features of my invention, its operation, and advantages, what I claim as new is- 1. In afastening device, a clasp or clamp having substantially the form of a T in transverse section and formed with enlarged recesses or grooves outside of the central or vertical part of said T, and with a side opening and a bottom opening of smaller area than that of said recesses or grooves, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a fastening device, aband or strap provided with a series of metallic claspsor clamps which are formed with an 'opening'in the sideand an opening in the bottom of each and with separate enlarged recesses or grooves, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In a fastening device, a band or. strap provided with a series of metallic clasps or clamps which are .formed with openings and with separate enlarged recesses or grooves, said band or strap being constructed and arranged, substantially as described, to cover the exterior and line the interior surfaces of said clasps or clamps, substantially as described. v

4. In a fastening device, a band or strap provided with metallic clasps or clamps which are formed with an opening in the side and an opening in the bottom of each and with separate enlarged recesses or grooves, in combination with strips or ribs fitting within said recesses or grooves secured to the article to which the fastening is to be applied, substantially as described.

5. In a fastening device for shoes or other articles of apparel having an opening, flaps,

and strips or ribs, the combination, with a series of clasps or clamps, of a band or strap of flexible material arranged to cover, extend within and line said series of clasps or clamps, and form two continuous clamping recesses or grooves for the reception and retention of said strips or ribs, said fastening device as thus constructed having two separate recesses or grooves, each of which has anopening large enough to admit the part which joins the strip or rib to the flap of the article and yet too small to permit the withdrawal of said strip or rib in the direction of the tension or strain, substantially as described.

6. In a fastening device for shoes or other articles of apparel having an opening and flaps, the combination, with strips or ribs attached to said flaps at their upper surfaces, I

of a'band or strap adapted to close and unclose said opening, one of said strips or r bs which are bent and clamped to said band or strap, substantially as described.

8. In a fastening device for shoes or other articles of apparel havingan opening and being on the surface of the article at some flaps, the combination, with strips orribs attached to said flaps, of aband or strap adapted to close and unclose said opening and provided with a series of clasps or clamps which are formedwith an opening in the side and bottom of each and with separate enlarged recesses or grooves, and which are bent and clamped to said band or strap, substantially as described.

9. In a fastening device for shoes or other articles of apparel having an opening and flaps, the combination, with strips or ribs attached to said flaps, of a band or strap adapted to close and unclose said opening and provided with a series of clasps or clamps which are formed with an opening in the side and bottom of each and with separate enlarged recesses or grooves, and which are bent and clamped to said band or strap, which is constructed and arranged, substantially as described, to cover the exterior and line the interiorsurfaces of said clasps or clamps, substantially as described.

10, I11 a fastening device for shoes or other articles of apparel having an opening and .flaps', the combination of one or more adj Listable strips or ribs and devices for securingthe same to said flaps, substantially as and for the purpose described. g 11. In a fastening device for shoes or other articles of apparel having an opening and flaps, the combination, with one or more strips or ribs, of removable and replaceable staples for securing the same to said flaps, and aband or strap provided with clasps or clamps having separate enlarged recesses or grooves and small openings in their sides and bottoms, substantially as and for the purpose described. ALVAH S. FRENCH. In presence of FRANK L. CRAWFORD, HER-MAN M. SOLOMON. 

